Blushing Violet (2 page)

“Or money,” Morgan said from around his food. Swallowing, he leaned back into the expensive black leather couch across from Carlos. Morgan lived two floors above Carlos’ apartment in the heart of downtown Detroit. Both their places faced Comerica Park and they often sat in front of the windows and watched the Detroit Tigers play in the summer.

“I’m just glad they didn’t see us standing on the other side of the door.” Carlos opened his laptop and started clicking through his email. “I can still hear Stacy complaining that the bracelet I got her for Christmas was only two carats of diamonds instead of three. What a bitch.”

Morgan shook his burger at him while he talked. “I can’t believe they were faking being into bondage just to get at our wallets. I told you Kelly was always trying to top from the bottom.”

Snorting, Carlos clicked open an email from one of their patrons. Carlos was a photographer and earned a decent living selling his prints. He made his real money selling the pictures that Morgan digitally altered with a deft and delicate touch. Morgan liked to joke that he had no real talent, he simply colored in the lines that Carlos drew with his photographs.

“April wants to know if we’ve started work on the exhibit we promised her at the Detroit Institute of Arts in a couple months.” Grimacing, he looked up and noted a similar sour expression on Morgan’s face.

“Let’s make her crap her Chanel suit and tell her the truth. We don’t have a fucking clue.”

“We had better get a clue, and fast. This is too big an opportunity to blow off.”

“I know,” Morgan muttered and tossed his sunglasses on the table. His blue eyes were red and tired-looking. “I’m just so over thinking about it. That’s all we’ve done for the past three weeks. Besides, my brain is like pudding right now.”

Carlos grunted in agreement and moved on to the next email. As he read the sender’s name, he felt excited for the first time in what felt like forever. It was from the matchmaking site.

“I have a hit!” he said and pumped his fist into the air.

“No shit.” Morgan tossed the burger on the table and sat next to him on the couch. “Check my email.”

Carlos waved him away. “Go use the computer in the study.”

Not bothering to answer, Morgan sprinted into the other room and Carlos turned back to his email. A couple weeks ago he had joined an online dating site that had really appealed to him. This was after a particularly unfulfilling conversation with his ex-girlfriend, Stacy, which had led to bland sex just so he wouldn’t have to talk to her anymore. One of his friends from the BDSM scene had found her perfect submissive via this site, and he had high hopes.

It wasn’t just about sex, it was about personality and what made a person tick. He had talked it over with Morgan and Morgan liked the idea so much he decided to sign up as well. Carlos tried to be as absolutely honest as he could when he filled the form out. This was one place he could be truthful and not have to worry about any kind of judgment.

Excitement coursed through him and he had to laugh at himself. After all the women he had been with, after all the exotic things he had done, the act of opening an email made his cock hard. Taking a deep breath, he clicked the link of the first and only woman who had met his very exact specifications, and whose ideals he matched.

That breath came out in a silent puff of air as he looked at the picture on the screen. She bore a striking resemblance to his current obsession, actress Christina Hendricks from the TV show
Mad Men
. Only there was something a bit softer, more innocent about her. Long red hair fell in a mess of curls, framing an angelic beauty. Her eyes were a pale green so light they almost appeared silver. Wide and uncertain, they seemed to look into his with a heartbreaking vulnerability. A smattering of freckles sprayed over her nose and cheeks, adding to the look of innocence. Full and pink, her lips were the only thing about her that lent a carnal air and he wondered what they would taste like.

A loud whoop from the study let him know that Morgan had good news as well. Carlos grinned and leaned closer to the screen, wishing the picture was bigger.

Smiling shyly at the camera, she kept her shoulders slightly rounded beneath her pale-blue sweater. His eyes wandered lower and he admired the full and heavy breasts she tried to hide with her loose clothes. It was obvious she didn’t know how beautiful she was.

With her image burned into his mind, he read the first line of her profile, Blushing Violet. Whispering the name out loud, he stared at her creamy skin and imagined the flood of pink heating her cheeks. His mind moved to more carnal desires and he wondered if her whole body flushed when she had an orgasm.

Morgan came striding into the room, interrupting his fantasies. “I have hit the jackpot,” he announced and nabbed Carlos’ water glass, stepping back before taking a deep gulp. “You will never believe the beauty that arrived in my email.”

Returning his smile, Carlos said, “And you, my friend, will never believe the amazing creature the gods have sent me.”

Grabbing his abandoned burger, Morgan studied his favorite photograph that hung on Carlos’ wall. It was the lush curve of a woman’s bottom, full and thick, with a whip coiled atop it like a sleeping snake. “She is delicious, all auburn hair and curves. And her eyes, man, I’ve never seen anything like them. She’s like Jessica Rabbit come to life, but softer.”

Staring at the picture of his Blushing Violet, Carlos nodded. “My lady has breasts that would make Jane Mansfield weep with envy. Even if they are hidden behind a rather dull sweater.”

“Mine too.” Morgan vaulted over the back of the couch and Carlos winced as he landed. “First thing I’m going to do is take her shopping and show her how beautiful she is.” He sighed happily and ate the last bite of his burger. “I love spoiling my women.”

Carlos eagerly read her profile. “Oh shit, you are not going to believe this.”

“What?” Morgan already had his iPhone out and was busy typing away.

“She loves our books.” His heart gave another thud as he read some of her other favorite erotic novels. “Oh my. I do believe my little Blushing Violet is a closet submissive.”

Morgan’s fingers froze. “What did you call her?”

“Mine?”

“Not that. Did you just say Blushing Violet?”

“Yeah.” Watching Morgan tip his head back against the couch and groan, Carlos became worried. “What? Do you know her?”

“Yeah.” Morgan looked up and blew a breath out of his nose. “I just got her profile sent to me too.”

“What?” Carlos scooted up on the couch and held the computer closer, as if it was the woman in question. “That’s not possible.”

“Oh yeah. Two guys who both love curvy redheads, are into the BDSM lifestyle, and read the same books would never be attracted to the same woman.” Morgan narrowed his eyes. “By the way, she’s mine. Go find yourself another auburn-haired goddess.”

Carlos bared his teeth at him. “You’re high if you think I’m going to give you first dibs on her. Besides, I opened my email first.”

“That doesn’t mean anything. Besides, I need her more.”

“How the hell do you figure that? It’s my artwork that she loves.”

“Hey, I’m in that book too. It’s my artwork that she loves.”

Carlos rubbed his eyes until he saw bright spots. “Look,” he growled. “I’m not going to fight over this with you. We’ll run a simple test and let her decide.”

“How do you figure that?” Morgan gave him a suspicious look. Both men were very competitive and often spent hours playing various games to prove who was the best. Well, this was a prize Carlos had no intention of losing.

“We’ll both send her an email. Introduce ourselves, etc. But, at the end of the email, I’ll include our favorite picture from that book and ask her to send us her favorite back. If she sends one of mine, I get her. If she sends one of yours, you get her.”

“What if she picks someone else’s?”

“Then we flip a coin.”

Morgan thought this over. “It sounds fair, but I have the cognitive abilities of a chipmunk right now.” He sighed and stuck out his hand. “I guess that since we’ve been best friends since high school I can trust you to flip fair.”

Carlos grinned and shook his hand. “Buddy, if I could figure out how to rig a flip, I would.”

 Chapter Two

Violet took a big swig of her black coffee to wash down the aspirin. Her headache throbbed so hard she thought her eyes might fall out of her aching skull. If that would make her feel any better, she was all for it. Even an afternoon nap hadn’t helped the situation.

Trying to think of what she could tolerate for dinner, she opened her email and blinked. There, between an ad for penis enhancement and a discount promo from Victoria’s Secret, sat two messages from Literary Love. She sat there staring at the emails, trying to tell herself not to get her hopes up. It could just be receipts of her purchase, or a welcome message.

That excuse was as flimsy as her last paycheck. In big black letters next to the sender’s name was the message
We Found a Match!
not once, but twice. Unable to deny that the website had found her an alleged match, in less than twenty-four hours, she moved on to telling herself that the men must be losers.

Adam barked at the back door, wanting to be let out despite the perfectly functional doggy door. Finger hovering over the mouse, she tried to get up the nerve to click it. What if it was some big, super pervert weirdo who wanted to eat peanut butter out of her nose? What if they met her and were disappointed and she had to sit through a date with someone who wanted to chew their arm off to escape her? What if—

Loud and getting frantic, Adam’s barking broke through her indecision. “You’re right, Adam. It’s time to nut-up or shut up.”

Clicking the mouse, she spun out of her chair and headed for the back door before the screen could load. Feeling like a coward, she watched Adam wander around the snow-covered yard and snuffle for a good spot. Normally she wished the dog would hurry up, but today she was content to let him take his time. Heck, if he wanted to get a copy of the
New Yorker
and read it while he went to the bathroom she’d be happy. It meant she could avoid the computer screen a little while longer. Unfortunately, Adam decided it was too cold to hang out and ran back into the house in record time, for him.

Taking small steps, Violet kept her eyes on the gray carpet as she moved from the enclosed back porch and into the living room. Her gaze ran over the soft cream walls, skipping past pictures of friends and family, looking everywhere but the computer screen. When her feet bumped into the thick plastic sheet beneath her computer chair, she stopped and stood there.

A cold and wet nose nudged her hand and she squatted next to Adam, scratching his ears while his sweet brown eyes rolled in bliss.

“You know I’m being silly, right? I mean, I come from a species that mastered fire and can openers, surely I can find the bravery to look at an email. It’s not like I have to respond or anything.” Adam took her pep talk in stride and flopped onto his back, displaying his barrel belly for some loving. “You’re right, Adam. I’m setting a bad example for you. How can I help you get over your irrational fear of squirrels and the sound of Oprah’s voice if I can’t even look at an email?”

She leaned forward and grabbed his ears, bringing her forehead to his. “For you, Adam, I’m doing this for you.”

Releasing her four-legged love machine, she scooted into her computer chair and looked at the screen.

Dear Blushing Violet,

Well, that wasn’t too bad of a start. At least he got her name right, and could spell it.

You cannot imagine how delighted I was when I opened my email this morning and found your lovely eyes staring back at me.

Maybe he wasn’t wearing his glasses yet.

I’ve never seen their likeness, they remind me of mint leaves covered in frost.

Maybe he sold paint for a living. Would explain his knowledge of colors.

When I read your profile and your favorite book selections, I couldn’t help but smile. If you’ll notice, it almost exactly matches my list.

She quickly scrolled to the bottom of his email, where his profile was displayed. She made a little sound of disappointment that he had no picture. His name was Rocky. She started to snort but remembered her own none-too-original screen name. Let those who don’t have tacky online identities throw the first stone. She would have to click another link to take her to his bookcase, and decided to get back to the letter instead.

I would love to meet with you and take you out to dinner or anything else you would like.

Great, he’s blind and desperate.

I was wondering if you would do one thing for me before we meet. I’ve enclosed my favorite picture from a book that we both like. I would enjoy knowing what picture draws you in, what image speaks to you. Though you do not know me, I promise you that nothing you pick will shock me or make me think less of you. I hope the same can be said for me.

Rocky

Licking her lips, she clicked the attached picture file and gasped. A naked and bound woman rested her head on the thick leather-clad thigh of a man. The photo stopped midway on him, leaving the viewer with only a hint of the body above his spectacular six-pack. Most people would have just looked at the elaborate knots holding her arms behind her and assumed she was in pain, but Violet looked beyond. Peace, tranquility and satisfaction filled the woman’s face as she cuddled against the man. One strong hand gripped the back of her head, but Violet noted how his thumb barely pressed into her cheek, caressing her.

Heart pounding, she closed the email. For a long time she sat and stared at the computer screen, only flinching when the screen saver came on. She loved that picture, it was one of her favorites from the black bound book. Everything about that picture spoke about the relationship she craved, the emotional aspects of being a submissive that went beyond sex.

Putting off responding to him, she opened the next email. To her surprise it wasn’t a copy of the first, but a whole new man.

My Blushing Violet,

With her mind still filled with the emotions of the picture, his words warmed her and heated her body.

I have searched for you for a long time, knowing you were out there but unsure how to find you.

She tried to laugh off his words, but her usual inner snarky self was still buried beneath desire and an ethereal fragment of hope.

Imagine my surprise when on the first day of the new year, I find you delivered to me in my email. The first thing that caught my attention was your hair.

Fire-crotch, carrot head, freckle-face ginger, her mind whispered in her older sister’s cutting voice.

It’s amazing, the most beautiful shade of auburn I’ve ever seen. The way it flows around your face and frames you is a work of art.

Tears actually came to her eyes and this time she did laugh at herself. What a sap, a man compliments her hair color and she melts like ice cream on a hot summer day. That didn’t stop her from eagerly reading his next sentence. In truth, her soul drank up his compliments like dry soil absorbing the first drops of rain.

If you’re willing, I would love to meet up with you. I promise that I will be an utter gentleman and treat you with all the attention and care you so richly deserve. Please let me know if you are willing to give me a chance to prove to you how special you are.

Barney

Blinking, she read his name again and laughed. Of all the names she expected from the eloquent and charming man, Barney was not one of them. Scrolling down to his profile, she laughed even louder. His picture was Barney Rubble from
The Flintstones
. Snickering, she read a bit more about him and clicked his book link.

They liked almost all the same books, though he was into more hardcore sci-fi than she liked to read. Her heart thudded in her chest as she read the titles of some familiar Dominance/submission erotica, and then the name of the black book. That brought her mind around again to Rocky and his request.

Did she dare? She was intrigued by both emails, each struck her in a different way. Unable to believe her good luck, she started to tear the letters apart and look for a reason not to answer. A glance at the picture of her and Bethany on the wall stopped that line of thought. Bethany said that Violet needed to kick her mother and sister out of her head and listen to herself for once.

Pondering this, she went to the bookcase and flipped to the familiar page of the woman displayed between the two men. This is what she wanted, to be this woman.

Not giving herself time to chicken out, she sat down and pounded out her message and included the page number of the book. Hitting send, she pushed her keyboard back and actually shivered. This was so out of character for her, so out of the norm. She was the quiet girl, her stunning older sister’s silent shadow. The girl who faded into the background and didn’t cause waves.

And right now, she was the girl about to send out a second email to a mysterious stranger, who might or might not resemble Barney Rubble.

* * * * *

“Well shit,” Morgan said for the tenth time in less than five minutes.

“I know,” Carlos repeated.

They sat staring at the computer screen in Morgan’s apartment. Where Carlos liked clean and modern lines in black and white, Morgan’s decor was filled with enough color and clutter to resemble a junk store run by hippies. No, Carlos amended, not a junk store. The orange, yellow and red Chihuly glass sculpture hanging from the ceiling over the solid maple dining room table cost more than his first car. A lot more.

Right now that sculpture threw orange and red shadows on Morgan’s laptop where they stared at Blushing Violet’s art selection.

“Out of all the pictures in that book, she picks this one.” Morgan pushed his chair away from the table and stood with a groan, stretching his back out. He walked away from the dining room and flopped back into his gigantic blue suede bean bag.

“The irony is not lost on me.” Carlos tugged at the collar of his white button-down shirt. He had a photography session in an hour with a client. It took all of his strength not to cancel it so he could obsess over the emails with Morgan.

“Over two hundred pages, fifty of them mine and yours, and she chooses this one.”

“The only one not by us, but with both of us in it.” One of their good friends was the photographer and she needed two male models. They agreed, as long as she assured them she would keep their faces out of the pictures. It had been a fun shoot, and the evening afterward with the model pressed between them had been even more fun.

Come to think of it, he had really enjoyed sharing the woman with Morgan. Something about watching the woman pleasure him, working her over together, had done it for Carlos. No big surprise there. Most photographers he knew were voyeurs.

Morgan played with the thick onyx bead necklace around his throat. “What the hell are we supposed to do now?”

“I have an idea.” He leaned back in his chair and watched Morgan carefully.

Morgan stopped fiddling with his necklace and gave him a narrow-eyed look. “If your plan includes me giving up, you can stick it up your ass.”

Carlos rolled his eyes and turned the screen so Morgan could see it. “We give her what she wants.”

“Uh, dude, I don’t think she’s quite ready for all of that. She may have the heart of a submissive, but not the experience.”

“Not at the same time.”
Yet
, he mentally added. “We both date her.” He held up his hand to cut off Morgan’s protests. “Let her decide. We’ll each date her for a month or two, try to win her heart, and she’ll be the one to decide to get serious with one of us.”

Morgan stood and grabbed his racquet ball. It drove Carlos nuts when he bounced it, but it helped Morgan think. “We’d have to have some ground rules.” Bounce. “I don’t think we should tell her that we know each other, might make her feel weird.” Bounce. “Obviously no one has appreciated her the way we do.” Bounce. “Can give her what we have to offer.” Bounce, bounce.

“Agreed. No making her feel guilty about dating the other guy. No head trips or manipulation.” This earned him a glare from Morgan. “Just try to win her heart.”

“What about sex?” Morgan bounced the ball off the wall, narrowly missing a framed original of one of his works. The tranquil garden scene was lovely, but boring, at first. It was only when you looked closer that you realized that within the rose bushes, beautiful fairy women were engaged in some rather risqué behavior with each other.

“Sex is allowed. We need to see how she responds to our lifestyle. It may only be something she fantasies about, but can’t actually handle in real life.”

“No collaring, got it.” Morgan’s grin when he turned around was filled with anticipation. “Though I hope you totally lose, I’m glad you’re the other man. You’re the only one I would trust to treat her right.”

Carlos held out his hand. “Shake on it?”

The clasped hands and Morgan pulled him in for a hug. “Love you, man.”

“Love you, too.” Carlos pushed him back. “Christ, go take a shower. You are ripe.”

Morgan laughed and resumed his bouncing, looking out at the glittering night skyline of Detroit. Carlos turned the computer back around, staring at the screen and planning his seduction.